Bethany, Okla. -- After dropping the first set 25-21, the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm charged back to win the next three sets and defeat the Mid-America Christian Lady Evangels 3-1 in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Tuesday night (Oct. 19) in Bethany, Okla.
The Crimson Storm won by scores of 21-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-23.
MACU came out of the gate strong and took a 20-13 lead in the first set.
After the Crimson Storm (19-11, 4-5 SAC) closed to within 22-21, kills by Calle Solie, Danielle Betts and Taryn Walker gave the first set to the Lady Evangels (11-18, 2-7 SAC).
The Lady Evangels were propelled in the opening set by five kills from Cris Smith and a .406 hitting percentage as a team.
The next two sets were controlled by the Crimson Storm as SNU hit .424 in the second set and a spectacular .727 in the third.
The Lady Evangels though refused to go away quietly and jumped out to a 19-11 bulge in the fourth set behind five more kills from Smith.
But the Crimson Storm had a huge answer and ran off six straight points thanks in large part to four MACU attack errors.
Another kill by Smith ended the spurt and put the Lady Evangels back up by three when the Crimson Storm scored three straight points to even the set at 20-20.
When a service error and a kill by Becca Anderson put the Lady Evangels back up 22-20, a pair of service errors by the Lady Evangels and two kills by Morgan Loewen helped the Crimson Storm close out the win.
Smith paced the Lady Evangels with a solid night of 18 kills and a .349 hitting percentage.
Calle Solie had a team-high 26 assists and Shelbi Johnson led the Lady Evangels with 11 digs.
Ellen Martin led the Crimson Storm with 18 kills and hit .455, while Taryn Steele had a match-high 38 assists and Sarah Groesbeck had a match-best 14 digs.
The Lady Evangels will next host their second annual "Dig Pink" match on Thursday evening (Oct. 21) at 5 p.m. against Oklahoma City University.
The annual "Dig Pink" contest is in honor of breast cancer awareness month and raises money for breast cancer research.
